The 10 Best College Towns In Kentucky For 2024

Believe it or not, America has the best colleges in the world. It's been proven by data (and surveys) that the U.S. educational system is of the highest quality

It's actually not even close and Kentucky is home to a handful of them.

While we could debate which colleges within Kentucky are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Kentucky are the best.

You know, the type of places where there's energy and stimulation, but the type of place you can walk around at night. The happiest, chillest, most downright fun places where you can send your kids off to college where you won't break the bank, or worry about their well being.

The 10 Best College Towns In Kentucky For 2024

1. Highland Heights, KY
2. Murray, KY
3. Berea, KY
4. Wilmore, KY
5. Morehead, KY
6. Williamsburg, KY
7. Owensboro, KY
8. Danville, KY
9. Richmond, KY
10. Frankfort, KY

While some of these may not seem like a 'real' college town per se, when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue against.

And for those who live in Highland Heights, Murray and Berea - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Highland Heights ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

Read on to find out more or for more on Kentucky check out:

• Best Places To Live In Kentucky
• Best Counties To Live In Kentucky
• Cheapest Places To Live In Kentucky

The 10 Best College Towns In Kentucky For 2024

Colleges: Northern Kentucky University

Colleges: Murray State University

Colleges: Berea College

Colleges: Asbury University, Asbury Theological Seminary

Colleges: Morehead State University

Colleges: University of the Cumberlands

Colleges: Owensboro Community and Technical College, Brescia University, Kentucky Wesleyan College

Colleges: Centre College

Colleges: Eastern Kentucky University

Colleges: Kentucky State University

How'd we figure out the best college towns in Kentucky?

To crunch our data on Kentucky's best college towns, we used Saturday Night Science to decide which qualities (or rankings) make sense to use in the data, and then crunch the numbers for our rankings.

First off, we firmly decided that only cities with a 4 year college should make the cut -- so there has to be at least one college granting bachelors degrees in town.

You might be surprised to hear that there are only 16 places in Kentucky with an institution of higher learning with that criteria.

Source of data include OpenStreetMaps, the College Scorecard, the U.S. Census, and FBI reporting data to include the following factors:

• Students Make Up Large % of the Population
• College-specific Factors
• Graduation rate
• Tuition Cost
• Student Body Diversity
• Town Characteristics
• Safety
• Affordability
• Income and Employment Opportunities
• Things to Do
• Bars
• Museums & Libraries
• Population Density

We ranked each city across each of the criteria, with one being the best.

We rolled up the individual scores into the category and ranked them again based on the category.

Finally, we took the average rank across each category, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title "Best College Town In Kentucky For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Kentucky.

And it looks like Highland Heights placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The Kentucky

If you're looking for the best college towns in Kentucky, you came to the right place.

The best college towns in Kentucky are Highland Heights, Murray, Berea, Wilmore, Morehead, Williamsburg, Owensboro, Danville, Richmond, and Frankfort.

These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.

For more reading, check out:

• Most African American Cities In Kentucky
• Fastest Growing Cities In Kentucky
• Conservative Cities In Kentucky

16 Best College Towns In Kentucky

Rank	City	Population
1	Highland Heights, KY	6566
2	Murray, KY	17414
3	Berea, KY	15404
4	Wilmore, KY	6017
5	Morehead, KY	7001
6	Williamsburg, KY	5229
7	Owensboro, KY	60019
8	Danville, KY	17191
9	Richmond, KY	34883
10	Frankfort, KY	28460
11	Lexington, KY	321276
12	Campbellsville, KY	11434
13	Pikeville, KY	7563
14	Louisville, KY	629176
15	Georgetown, KY	37510
16	Florence, KY	32056